Show off your tactical rifles

This is a discussion on Show off your tactical rifles within the Defensive Rifles & Shotgun Discussion forums, part of the Related Topics category; The only downfall I see is the 55lb 12 volt car battery you have to hump around in the fanny pack. Maybe one of those ...

Well, heck. I guess someone has to jump in with a bolt gun. Now don't get me wrong - I loves my AR, I surely does, and here's a photo (yep, I keep it simple), but then I'll post a bit about a bolt gun that you may find interesting. Here's my AR - Pre-ban H-Bar lower with a stock Bushy upper.

I recently received a custom rifle I'd ordered from Jim Brockman of Brockman's Rifles (www.brockmansrifles.com). Now that I'm an older fart of 47 and have enough time with rifles under my belt (including one exceptionally eye-opening Randy Cain Practical Rilfe course), I knew what I wanted to build, and I started out on a quest to have someone develop a short, handly rifle to my specs. The following posts are about the rifle, and let me just cut to the chase and say, "I am one happy customer!"

I thought it'd be easy to get what I wanted done, but no one seemed to want to add iron sights to a custom rifle. The usual response was, "We don't add iron sights to our custom rifles!" My unspoken (I'm a nice guy, and there'd have been no point anyway) response was, "It's not YOUR custom rifle - it's MY custom rifle!" Anyway ... 'nuf of that. At Randy's suggestion, I contacted Jim, and ... well, this rifle is the result.

In a nutshell, this is a .308 that's basically one off Brockman's Ultimate Rifles, which you can see on his web page. I added a few bells and whistles that I wanted myself to the basic rifle.

This rifle started life as a Winchester Classic 70 Compact. Now, the receiver wears a 20" barrel, composite stock, Talley bases and QD rings, Ching sling, deeper bottom metal, a tritium-insert protected front site, and one of Brockman's own rear pop-up peeps that springs into place when the scope is removed. I went with a low-powered (2x7) Euro varialbe with a 30mm tube. I also have an older model Leupold M1 (the old model with the turrets that turn the opposite direction of the new ones) in Talley QDs, and I swap the scopes out as I want. Each of these is addressed in a followup post with a photo.

To start the ball rolling, here's an overall view of the rifle (and remember, I'm no Ichiro Superfotoguy!

The rifle is topped with a low-powered Euro Leupold in Talley QD mounts, with no glowing reticle or any other bells or whistles. Actually, I had wanted an electronic reticle, but it was either that or the 30mm tube, but not both, and I opted for the latter.

I also had a first-generation M1 (the ones on which the turrets turn the opposite way from the way they turn on subsequent models) in the safe, and I had Jim screw some QDs on that too, however I expect the little scope to stay on the gun for most, if not all, the time; the rifle is very light, so light in fact that changing the scopes yields a VERY noticeable difference in weight and handling.

Brockman's already makes a front sight that was just what I wanted. It's a protected sight - with "ears", like a military sight. Mine has a tritium insert.

Here's the rear scope base with its integral pop-up peep. When I first scoped a Winchester short action, I found that I had to turn the rear base 180 degrees to get the little scope I was using at the time to fit. In the intended position, the rear base left too long a gap between the rings, and turning the rear base around was the only way I could find to close the distance so that both rings would grab the tube. The Brockman rifle arrived the same way - with the rear peep turned backwards. It's not a big deal to me, because I was used to topping off the magazine with the rear base turned around backwards when this rifle was in its factory state, but I had not thought that a custom sight would also have to be turned around instead of manufactured differently for the Winchester short action. Again, though, I am not complaining; the unit seems to function well, and as I said, I'm already used to this type of deal. So, here's the rear base ...

Now, here's an item that, according to Jim, he'd not tried before (and I am quite certain he was humoring me.) From what I can tell, there are three ways to run a rifle bolt after the shot. The one most of us see at the range is careful back, manually lift out the empty, and close. With a field rifle, though, one is more likely to be crankin' that thing open and closed hard! One way, by slappinig the bolt up, back, forward, and down with the palm of the hand works well for some folks, but I have the nagging problem of getting my friggin' ring finger caught between the bolt handle and the ocular on the return stroke, and let me tell you, thwacking your fingernail on a scope hurts! Cured me, so I opt the for the third method - taking a firm grip on the knob and running the bolt.

Since I am pretty much wed to that method, I asked Jim to come up with more accessible (for me) bolt. I am familiar with the Badger units, and they're great, but on a little rifle like this, it would have looked like a tumor. I explained to Jim what I was looking for, and he came up with the bolt handle on his own. Here are photos of the handle. You can see that it sits away from the stock, but not so much that it detracts from the spartan size, shape and weight of the gun.

The stock is a composite. I can't remember the manufacturer; it may be a Brown Precision because Jim and I were talking about them one day on the phone - during one of his REGULAR calls to let me know the status of the project (gooooooood customer service, folks!) Nothing unusual about the stock, except of course for the Ching sling studs, and also a little light attachment I asked him to attach over on the left side of the stock (that's just where I like it).

Finally, here's a photo of the bottom metal. The extended belly allows the mag to legitimately hold 7 rounds.

Oh, and you may have noticed that a "B" is engraved on the bottom metal. That doesn't stand for "Brockmans". I actually had Jim build two rifles for me, identical in all respects except the lengths of pull and the names engraved on them. I did this because I owe a friend of mine my life. In some ways, he owes his to me. I am not a soldier, or an operator, and I have never been to war in the military sense. However, I have most certainly been engaged in the tough battles life throws in the way of us civilians from time to time, and my friend has always been there to back my ass up, as I have his. For this reason, I had Jim build an indentical rifle for my friend, and I gave it to him a dinner a couple of weeks back. He didn't know what to say. I told him he didn't have to.